Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth went on national television this weekend and delivered one of the most reckless accusations a U.S. senator can make: she claimed the Trump administration committed a “war crime.” And then—almost unbelievably—she admitted she hadn’t actually seen the video, read the reports, or reviewed any classified material about the strike she was condemning.
Duckworth appeared on CNN to attack President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth over a September operation against a drug-running vessel. Citing a Washington Post article already contradicted by military officials, she accused the administration of murdering narcoterrorists on the high seas.
“Everything that they’ve done has been illegal. It’s illegal under international law, it’s illegal under the Geneva Convention, and it certainly is even illegal under domestic law. It was essentially murder with that double-tap strike,” Duckworth said. “It is a war crime. It’s illegal. However you put it, it’s all illegal.”
But when asked if she had actually reviewed the classified evidence behind her incendiary claim, Duckworth was forced to admit she hadn’t.
“I’ve not seen the actual video,” she said. “I’ve requested to be able to see the actual video. I’ve also actually asked to see the after-action reports from the pilots and the drone operators, as well as the intelligence debrief that all pilots and drone operators conduct after they have completed a mission.”
In other words, she accused the President of the United States and U.S. service members of committing a war crime based entirely on media reporting — reporting that has already begun falling apart.
The Washington Post claimed Hegseth ordered the military to “kill them all.” But that narrative has been rejected by every senior official familiar with the mission. Additional reporting from The New York Times even undercuts the Post’s central allegation.
Adm. Frank Bradley, who oversaw the September strike, testified to lawmakers that the Post’s account was inaccurate. He confirmed that intelligence had identified all 11 individuals on the vessel as narcoterrorists and that he — not Hegseth — authorized the second strike. Bradley also told lawmakers Hegseth had left the operations floor after the first strike.
Yet Duckworth still floated the idea that U.S. troops carrying out lawful orders could face prosecution — even from the International Criminal Court, which the U.S. isn’t part of.
This is what passes for “responsibility” among Democrat senators in 2025: hurling war-crime accusations at American troops and the commander-in-chief based on headlines she hasn’t verified and evidence she hasn’t reviewed.
All to score political points — at the expense of the truth. Watch Sen. Duckworth make a fool of herself…